The B.C. government is acting to manage British Columbia's boreal caribou population by introducing Resource Review Areas (RRAs) and by enabling habitat restoration and mitigation actions to take place in and across the province's boreal caribou ranges.

Effective immediately, RRAs have been established across portions of the province's boreal caribou range, accounting for over 500,000 hectares, within which there will be no new natural gas and petroleum tenure sales. RRAs will be tied to specific performance measures related to boreal caribou range populations and habitat conditions, and reviewed in five years.

Boreal caribou populations will be closely monitored during the RRAs five-year time frame. Specific performance measures related to boreal caribou population dynamics and habitat requirements will be developed as part of ongoing management and conservation activities. The Province is committed to working with federal agencies, First Nations and industry to develop and move forward with management initiatives to ensure performance measures are achieved.

In addition to the RRAs, the Province will identify specific habitat locations that will be subject to further management requirements under the Oil and Gas Activities Act when it is implemented this fall. The Province will work with First Nations and industry to identify habitat locations and establish best mitigation practices.

Boreal caribou populations range throughout Canada's boreal forest, with approximately 1,500 residing in British Columbia. Boreal caribou are declining and currently listed as "threatened" under the federal Species at Risk Act and are "red-listed" (threatened to endangered) in British Columbia.